Toppnivådomäner

Toppnivådomäner, often abbreviated as TLDs, are the highest-level categories in the hierarchical Domain Name System (DNS) of the internet. They appear as the final segment of a domain name, following the dot. For example, in "example.com", "com" is the top-level domain.

TLDs are crucial for organizing and identifying the purpose or origin of websites. They are broadly categorized into generic top-level domains (gTLDs) and country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs). gTLDs were the original TLDs and include popular examples like .com, .org, and .net. These are intended for general use, although many have evolved to have specific associations. Newer gTLDs have been introduced, such as .tech, .store, and .online, offering more specialized options.

ccTLDs are two-letter domain extensions that correspond to specific countries or territories, such as .uk for the United Kingdom, .de for Germany, and .jp for Japan. These are typically managed by organizations within those countries and often have specific registration requirements.

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is responsible for overseeing the TLD system and maintaining the root zone database. Domain name registrars sell domain names with various TLDs to individuals and organizations. The choice of a TLD can influence a website's perceived audience, credibility, and search engine optimization.